Matthew 24

Part 1

Jesus and the disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives; they point out the temple to Him. He talks about its destruction.

4 disciples approach Jesus privately, they say: Give an account of when shall these things exist?

1 - What shall be the sign of your presence?

2 - And the consummation of the age.

Note what they are really asking and the contrast to the common interpretation this passage has been given; especially in the last 150 ish years.

4 - And expounding, Jesus spoke to them. Discern (now) that not anyone cause you to wander away.

5 - For this cause, many will move about in the reputation of me discoursing I (now) exist the Christ, and many they will cause to wander away.

6 - You will begin and to hear of wars and rumors of wars. (Use) discernment not to be troubled; for this cause it has become, in contrast not yet is the end event.

7 - For will awaken, for this reason, (singular) nation against (singular) nation, and (singular) kingdom against (singular) kingdom; and there will exist famines and earthquakes in regions.

8 - The whole and these (are) the commencement of birth pains.

9 - At that time they will surrender you for (a) tribulation, and will outright put you to death and you will be hated by all the nations because of the reputation of me.

10 - Then at that time (many) will show forth their apostasy by their sin, and one another they will surrender, and hate one another.

11 - And many false prophets shall rise up and cause many to wander away.

This certainly had a historic precedence in the 1st century. Josephus in "Antiquities" reports about 44 false messiahs; of which he names about half a dozen of them and tells us of their fates. One of these events is recorded in Acts 5.

12 - And for this cause is filled to maximum the lawlessness, thus (of this evil breath) cold becomes the love of the many.

Now the phrase that catches my attention here is 'of this evil breath'. This is implied in the context of the passage, although not written of literal word. A complimentary passage I think is in Revelation when it talks about the dragon spewing out of his mouth a flood that he tries to swallow up the woman who bore a man child. (Revelation 12)

13 - The one however having endured to the end, this will be saved.

14 - And will be proclaimed (via Divine power) this the gospel of the (Ruler's) realm as related to the whole of the dwelt-in land, penetrating this evidence to the whole of the (known) nations; and at this time will be the end event.

Now verse 14, I think has its fulfillment in Acts 2 when the apostles begin to speak in foreign language and "the whole of those who dwelt in the land" received this "penetrating evidence". The people who were present at Pentecost were a representation of those who lived in the Roman Empire. The "penetrating evidence" starts here and eventually goes across the entire globe. Yet that phenomena is not what Jesus is speaking of in this particular passage. This is the forerunner of the gospel going into all the world.

15 - Causing accordingly you (whom I Jesus am speaking to) to discern the abomination (idol) of the desolation, the speaking of which through Daniel the prophet, standing (continuously) related to the place marker belonging to the holy - The He, knowing again what's being read, let him (them repeatedly) conclude (through contemplation).

Now this verse is extremely interesting. I've covered in other studies what the "abomination of desolation" was and when it was set up. (It was set up at the point Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus. This is the "official" rejection of the Messiah by the nation's leadership.)

The abomination that makes desolate, as it related to Judaism (being specifically linked to the revelation that God gave them); was any theological system / set of beliefs that took the place of the true Messiah. The "place marker belonging to the holy" had to do with animal sacrifices. The proper thing to have done once the Messiah came on the scene would have been for the leadership to say. The Messiah is born, so we no longer look to these animal sacrifices. The "place marker" was the temple and all it represented. Jesus was to take its place because he/He was the embodiment of all that system represented.

Now the last segment of this verse is very interesting; "The He, knowing…." And I translated it the way I did because it seems to me to be what it's saying. The first two words are "Definite article" / "singular male noun". So it's not just "a he" it's "The He" (but also could be "the he" referencing a specific individual - we will see that later). Now who is the "He"? I believe that's a reference to the Holy Spirit; and I come to that conclusion based on what the rest of the verse says.

Next: "knowing again what's being read," The point at which this is happening is known by the "He". And He is "remembering again" what has transpired in history. Now He's doing this in relation to "what is being read". Note it does not say "what is being spoken" or even what is being "written". It's "what is being read". This appears to be our clue that this "what is being read" is occurring at various points in history, beyond when it was spoken and when it was written. Now did the people who originally receive it, "read" it and understand it? I think they did, because they were given to understand the whole of what God intended for them.

Yet for those of us reading this thousands of years later; I believe this phrase was actually written for our benefit. Thus the rest of the verse "let him (or them i.e. the readers) conclude through contemplation.

Now why did I translate this the way I did? I did this because "him" is 3rd person passive, but also "him reading" is "present active participle" (which means present tense continuously repeated into the future). So of "him" who ever reads this; let He remember unto them what happened. In turn they come to understand the matter through contemplation.

Now "contemplation" is kind of a loose translation upon my part; but it's closest to what the Greek word implies. This though is not speaking of - oh, let's just sit around and try and figure out what this word (or passage) means i.e. - you give your opinion / I give mine. I think the intended implication, is in the context of studying the Scriptures. This goes back to Isaiah; "whom shall we teach doctrine" - "line upon line upon line; precept upon precept upon precept". I've said this many times. What ever questions we have about the Bible; we'll find the answer somewhere else in the Bible.

So this passage itself tells us what passage it's hearkening back to. It's hearkening back to Daniel talking about the abomination that makes desolate. Those chapters in Daniel give us a couple of different time frames. We have 1290 days and we have 2300 days. They are respectively about 3.5 years and about 6.3 years.

Now is it just a "coincidence" that from the angel appearing to John the Baptist's father, to Herod the Great trying to kill Jesus is 3.5 years. (or 1290 day) Then from the angel appearing to John the Baptist's father, to Jesus returning from Egypt is 6.3 years. (or 2300 days) This fits right in, to not only the Scriptural account in Daniel concerning this "king who understands dark sayings" trying to kill the Messiah, but also fits into what we know about the circumstances from history itself.

Passover of 8 BC announcement is made to John's father.

August of 8 BC John is conceived.

December of 8 BC Jesus is conceived.

Passover of 7 BC John is born. (Also begins calendar of secular year).

Feast of Tabernacles of 7 BC Jesus is born.

About the Feast of Tabernacles of 5 BC the Magi show up. Herod tries to kill Jesus.

(1290 days have passed)

That night, the angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

February of 4 BC Herod the Great dies. (Roman secular history records this.)

About July of 3 BC Joseph, Mary and Jesus return to Judea.

(2300 days have passed)

Instead of going back to Bethlehem, they go to Nazareth for fear of Archelaus who is ruling in Herod the Great's stead. Matthew 2:22

16 - At this time, those in (position of resting in) the Judea (implies entire domain of the Jews), let those (shunned) run away into the mountains.

This implies the entirety of when this is going on. The false messiahs, the understanding of the abomination, the earthquakes, rumors of wars; etc. Coinciding with all of this; those "resting" in Judea, which I don't think is talking about only physical geography. I think the passage is implying also religious life as it is connected to their interpretation of the meaning of the land, their political aspirations, their interpretation of what their culture means to them, their interpretation of what all this means to God; etc. This is contrasted to those who are shunned running away to the mountains; i.e. converts leaving the "position of resting" in the system.

Now what does it mean to "flee to the mountains"? I'll reserve figuring that out for a later passage. I think there are some additional clues in Luke.

17 - The He upon the top of the house, not let (commanded) him descend to remove (one time action) the things (infinitive pronoun - unnamed item(s)) originating of the house of him.

18 - And The He in the field (of harvest), not let (commanded) him return (to the) back to remove (one time action) the tunic of him.

Now here is an example where Greek and English don't have concept for concept translatable linguistic comparisons. These two verses involve the 3rd person imperative, which has no English equivalent and thus more than one different emphasis on the subject / object of the sentence can both be right. This is kind of like translation "active" or "passive" voice. The emphasis the translator puts on who's taking the action will determine whether it's translated "active" or "passive".

So since the "him" in these two verses is "passive" and the "He" is still the subject (even if translated "He" or "he") the command "not to let" is untimely still coming from "Him". If I stand on the house and am commanded not to descend and remove things from the house; I'm still commanded by "Him"; even if the "Him" is implied.

But if He on top of the house commands me not to descend and remove any thing from the house; theologically it's correctly translated either way.

Now obviously "He" is not going to command "Himself" not to descend and remove things. Nor to return for "His" tunic. Translating it that way does not make theological sense.

So symbolically speaking, what do these two verses mean?

Well, the "field of harvest" is easy enough. That's referenced by Jesus in the context of the spreading of the gospel. Even before He died, Jesus told the disciples to look around them, for the fields are ripe for harvest now. (John 4:35)

The tunic is referenced in Scripture too. Being clothed with a robe of righteousness. We are not to return and try and take up what ever righteousness we believed we possessed from the law or (in the case of the 1st century Jew - the religious system connected to it). (Isaiah 61:10, Revelation 19:8)

Now the "house" (as also related to clothing) is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:1-3. Both they (as well as we) are commanded not to return to a "house" of a system that is not the substance.

So besides a practical application of the trials they'd face (and were currently facing); these passages have more than one meaning.

19 - Woe (expression of profound grief) moreover to the ones of the womb's matrix holding, and also to the ones nursing (in position of rest) in THOSE the days.

Now the first thing that caught my attention about this verse is, its warning is primarily to mothers. All those being referenced are in the plural. This verse doesn't say anything about the children though. We have nursing mothers and mothers about to give birth.

Again, although I could see where this verse has practical application as it relates to times of civil unrest; in the context of the spiritual, that Jesus is eluding to in the rest of the verses, this isn't clear on the surface.

What symbolic meaning does this have in the context of the dismantling of the Old Testament system and times of trials that brings about? I'm not sure; but it's worth making note of that 'present active participle' (something happening now that continues to be repeated into the future) as it relates to the point in time Jesus is saying this. Basically what he's saying is that not only does this apply to the near future; it applies to the right now that you are sitting here listening to me tell you this.

Paul makes a reference to himself being "one born out of due time". In modern terms we'd call that a miscarriage. Also Psalm 78:5-7 speaks of establishing a testimony in Jacob and a law in Israel. From there it speaks of fathers that should make these things known to their children, of a generation that "should be born". Apparently in the context of the psalm though; that never happens.

Historically, it was true "the next generation" was never born because of their fathers' rebellion brought total annihilation upon them from the hand of Rome. And so the woe to some of these mothers is that; yes, this is the end of the rebellious nation.

Yet Isaiah 66 speaks of Jerusalem delivered of a man child "before her pain came".

Verses 10 through 12 are interestingly cryptic for they speak of both joy and mourning for "Jerusalem" who brought forth this man child, yet is mourned of by some also.

10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

11That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

Verse 12 talks about "the glory of the Gentiles" which is language reflexive of redemption and how the two (Jew and Gentile) become one man in Christ. (Ephesians 2: 11-22)

There's also a verse in one of Jesus's parables about the steward of a household where Jesus tells them to "make friends of the unrighteous mammon; for when you fail, they shall receive you."

The next chapter is going to be about what "the Church" in the very end of time begins to look like. And following that chapter; I will continue with Matthew 24.